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No Satisfying Those Who Hate Dams by Martin Pierret Tri-City Herald, August 27, 2019

The salmon spend most of their life in the ocean. We have had record salmon runs, with the dams in place. The Tri-City Herald has reported them over the years. Millions have been spent upgrading the dams so they can coexist with the salmon.

The dams are responsible for 1.5 percent loss of salmon. Bypasses around the turbines were built. Screens, over turbine water inlets, were put in place. My father-in-law's company was one of the contractors to work on that project at Lower Monumental.

We barge the smolts down river, to Portland, all at taxpayer expense. Where is the compromise from the ignorant environmentalists? The answer, my friends, is that there is none. They want the dams gone, period!

If they get their way with the Snake River dams, they'll move on to the Columbia River dams. Their goal is Grand Coulee. Eastern Washington will return to the desert and we will all rejoice with our "natural rivers." I am sure the increased tourism will make up for the billions lost in deserted farms and increased utilities costs.